Members of the New Macau Gaming Workers’ Rights Union yesterday submitted a petition, addressed to Health Bureau (SSM) Director Lei Chin Ion, urging the bureau to investigate the alleged setting-up of “multi-function rooms” without special ventilation systems where gamblers are allegedly allowed to smoke in a local casino.
Under the current rules, smoking lounges can be set up in mass market areas, while gamblers are permitted to smoke in VIP areas. A separate ventilation system is required in each smoking lounge to ensure that the smoke does not affect those outside the lounge.
Speaking to reporters after submitting the petition to an SSM official outside the bureau, Cloee Chao Sao Fong, the group’s president, said that her group last week received complaints from gaming staff working in the casino, who said that several such “multi-function rooms” had recently been set up in the casino’s gaming area. According to Chao, the sign on the “multi-function rooms” says that they are for gamblers to take a rest.
New Macau Gaming Workers’ Rights Union President Cloee Chao Sao Fong (second from right) hands her union’s petition to a Health Bureau (SSM) official (right) outside the bureau as her fellow union members display Chinese character papers calling for a blanket ban on smoking in casinos. Photo: Tony Wong
